The Death Of A 3-Year-Old In Texas Has Screwed Up US-Russian Relations Even More

Gardendale, a small neighbourhood in West Texas, was hit with tragedy this week after 3-year-old Max Alan Shatto died. Local news reports suggest that Shatto collapsed outside his home on January 21st, and an autopsy is underway.Any time a child dies it is sad, but this death is unusual in that Shatto is an orphan. What’s more, he was adopted from Russia.

Sadly, that makes this an international incident — one that could derail attempts to claw back a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans, and add fire to a neo-Cold War playing out between the countries.

Russian officials aren’t holding back. ABC News reports that Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Pavel Astakhov has alleged that Max died after being fed psychiatric drugs by his adoptive parents, and that Astakhov has tweeted that this was a case of “murder.”

Russian authorities are also seeking the repatriation of Max’s brother, another orphan who had been adopted by the Shatto’s at the same time. TV channels are devoting hours of time to the case, and parliament held a minute’s silence for Max.

However, even opponents of the ban admit it is popular in Russia. Last month Business Insider spoke to Pavel Khodorkovsky, the son of the jailed oligarch Mikhail, who said that few Russians really knew the full facts of adoptions in the U.S., or the true horrors of Russia’s orphanage system.

The effect of this story is two-fold. First, it helps neuter the arguments of those in Russia who have protested against the ban — it’s virtually impossible to argue with the death of a child.

Secondly, it adds fuel to the fire that created the ban — a widespread anti-Americanism in Russia that is only likely to grow.